Tigers Split a Pair of Games on Saturday

Greenville, NC - Pinch-hitter Drew Costanzo hit a walkoff solo homer in the 11th inning to defeat #11 Clemson 3-2 Saturday night in the Keith LeClair Invitational at Harrington Field. It was Costanzo's first homer as a Pirate. East Carolina improved to 10-0, while Clemson fell to 1-2.
Mike Flye (1-0) pitched 5.2 innings of shutout ball in relief, allowing just three runs and no walks while striking out nine to earn the win. He and starter Greg Bunn combined for 16 strikeouts. The loss spoiled an outstanding pitching performance by Tyler Lumsden, who pitched 6.0 innings, allowing just two runs, four hits, and one walk while striking out six. Patrick Hogan (0-1), who was born in Greenville, NC, suffered the loss despite allowing just two hits in 3.0 innings pitched.

The Tigers got on the board first in the third inning. Tony Sipp led off with a walk and scored when Travis Storrer homered to left field. Storrer's opposite-field homer was the Mount Vernon, WA native's first as a Tiger and gave the Tigers a 2-0 lead. Storrer's hit was the only one by either team with runners on base in 28 combined at-bats.
East Carolina cut the Tiger lead in half when Mark Minicozzi hit his second homer of the year of the fence in left field. Tiger pitchers had gone over 14 consecutive innings without allowing a run before Minicozzi's long ball.
The Pirates tied the score in the seventh inning when Ryan Norwood hit a leadoff homer on a 1-2 pitch deep over the fence in left field. It was Norwood's third homer of the year.
Costanzo finally won the game in the 11th inning when he hit a full-count pitch over the left-field fence, just over the outstretched arms of Sipp.
Brad McCann's 22-game hitting streak came to an end in the game, as the junior was 0-for-5. Storrer led the Tigers with two hits, including the home run. Norwood and Ryan Jones led the Pirates with two hits apiece. All five runs scored in the game came on long balls, while each team totaled seven hits.
Clemson will play Georgia Southern at Harrington Field Sunday at 10:00 AM Sunday. Clemson will then play East Carolina following the first game Sunday.

Game 1:
Greenville, NC - Four Tiger pitchers allowed just three hits as #11 Clemson defeated Georgia Southern 4-0 Saturday afternoon in the first of four games in the Keith LeClair Invitational at Greenville, NC. The Tigers evened their season record at 1-1, while Georgia Southern fell to 5-6.
The game lasted just one hour, 49 minutes and was attended by 556 fans. The game duration was the shortest nine-inning game Clemson played since April 1, 1988, when the Tigers defeated North Carolina 5-2 at Doug Kingsmore Stadium in a game that also lasted one hour, 49 minutes.
Jason Berken pitched masterfully in his first outing of the sesaon. In chilly weather reminiscent of his hometown of De Pere, WI, Berken pitched 6.0 innings (83 pitches), allowing just two hits, no runs, and no walks while striking out seven to earn the victory. Robert Rohrbaugh, Steven Jackson, and Adam Walker each pitched an inning to close out the game. John Carroll (0-2) went the distance for the Eagles, allowing just seven hits, four runs (two earned), and no walks while striking out five, as he suffered the loss.
The Tigers got on the board in the third inning when Garrick Evans laced a double to left-center, plating Herman Demmink. Demmink had reached on a fielding error. Clemson tacked on another run when Travis Storrer grounded out, plating Evans.
Clemson added two more runs in the sixth inning on a two-run single by Kris Harvey. Storrer led off the inning with a single up the middle, Brad McCann followed with another single, and Lou Santangelo sacrificed the runners over to set up Harvey. McCann's single extended his hitting streak to 22 games, tied for the fifth-longest streak in Tiger history.
McCann and Evans led the Tigers with two hits apiece, while leadoff batter James Payne had two of the Eagle hits.